The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-01

w Splb Oll bL6 llOOi VIllCC1 Vi tlC bbdS
will show you the use of the spittoon,n was
the elaborate text that once ornamented the
gorgeous cabin of a Missouri river steam
boat. Brief, plaintive appeals of the same
general tenor were as frequently seen as are
the warnings about smoking on the elevated
platforms now
But in spite of warning and exhortation
the bad practice went on. Perhaps the cor
/ ridors of the national capitol at Washing
ton were about as bad in that respect as any
place in the country. Citizens who were
showing off the wonders of the place to for
eign guests used to hurry through that por-
| ton of their excursion as fast as they could.
| Their haste, however, did not enable them
to escape from many shameful apology
for a practice that, to foreign eyes, was alb
solutely disgusting. For, although we were
not the only nation i'll the world by any
means, which chewed tobacco, we were the
only one that permitted evidences of the
habit TO be seen in every public place
We are getting over that now, however.
Every tobacconist recognizes the great
change that is taking place III what may be
called in rather new sense the public taste.
Any average tobacconist, whose trade is
not chiefly among sailors and tIuckmen,
will tell you he does not sell one-half as
much chewing tobacco as he did ten years
ago, and not one-third as much as he did
twenty years ago Very likely he will be
unable to guess why 1t is; but he can't deny
the fact | asked one of them about it the
other day He said
1.-The change is due to a variety of causes.
1t is great deal more apparent here in the
East than in the West and South, but it is
going on all over the country. One thing
is undoubtedly the strength of public opin
ion that it is an uncleanly habit. 1t is hard
for man who chews to keep evidence of it
from his clothes. That fact makes it inevi-
table that the habit should so down before
the increasing attention to dress, that is a
feature of modern life. Then great many
refined and well-intentioned persons have
waged war against it for years 1t was in
evitable that some effect should follow their
crusade.
But the principal causes are right here.
There is great deal more dyspepsia and
stomach trouble in the country now than
there used to be. And no person can chew
tobacco who has weak stomach James
Parton says i'll his famous pamphlet against
rum and tobacco that the stomach will hold
out against the weed longer than the lungs.
James does not smoke or chew, and there
fore doesn't know. Common experience
shows that he is wrong. and doctors support
the verdict of common experience. The
action of the tobacco juice, which trickles
down the chewer's throat, is to paralyze the
action OF the stomach 1t will do that long
before smoke will have any perceptible eff
feet upon an ordinary pair of lungs
Then the cigarette has done a great deal
| to put an end to the habit of chewing to-
bacco. The growth of the cigarette prac-
tIce in this country is, as they say of West
eIn towns, phenomenal The consumption
of cigarettes has doubled many times over
in the last fifteen years. About seven out
of every ten boys who are growing up now
smoke cigarettes. And after boy has
smoked cigarettes for a few years he not
only has no taste for tobacco in any other
form, but he has no constitution left to
stand chewing tobacco. 1t is curious how
boys will take to cigarettes. | believe it is
very largely because of the fuss made about
them. 1t has got to be the common opinion
that cigarette smoking is the most injurious
practice known. That is just why boys
adopt it. 1t makes them an object of awful
interest to other boys and girls 1t is soQth-
ing to boys foolish pride to know that
people have marked him out as one who is
rushing with frightful temerity to early de-
struction. Whether that is the cause of it
or not, it is perfectly certain that more and
more cigarettes are being sold every year
and less and less chewing tobacco"
In the Old days ''befo' the wah, when the
South set the fashion for the whole country,
nearly every statesman used to chew. The
chewers in Congress are rare now. With
UuG SACSDDlOu Vi GoIedheI OdtllSIb ana DUH
old Philetus Sawyer, there is scarcely well
known man on either side of the House who
is confirmed in the habit. When Bedford,
the gentleman from Colorado, who rejoiced
in the Alternative title of the Redheaded
Rooster of the Rockies and who could make
more noise than any other three men in
Washington, was in Congress he used to
chew lncesSantly. 1t is said that he did not
cease the practice even when he slept An
%lo%
even Mr.. Belford has been caught by the
wave of reformation and has abjured the
weed. In a recent letter to friend in New
York he asserts that for six weeks he has
solaced himself with arrowroot and gum.
People who have for years preached a CRU
SADIE against the tobacco habit may reflect
upon this case and take heart
The sufferings which an inveterate tobacco
chewer endures when he first deprives him
self OF his accustomed weed are popularity
supposed to be something dreadful Some
old chewers say they are, and some say they
are nothing that reSolute will and a clear
head cannot easily stand. They will agree,
however, that to have something in the
mouth to quiet the jumping veins, deprived
of their usual tranqulliZer, is desirable and
pleasant. To supply this want somebody
invented plug of stuff to be cheWed look
ing much like tobacco, and warranted TO
supply its place in every particular without
injurious effects. When it appeared the
enemies of the chewing practice declared
that there was now no reason why the most
confirmed chewer in the world should not
stop, since he had here the long looked-for
substitute This seemed reasonable enough
and good many persons acted upon the
suggestion, until it was found by an inquir-
ing chemist one day that the remedy was
worse than the disease The substitute for
chewing tobacco consisted in some harmless
leaves. soaked in hcorice, and then dressed
with tincture of opium.